01/08/2026
Un an exactement après la chute du régime des Assad en Syrie, nous sommes allés à la rencontre de Syrine Daigneault, artiste et enseignante dont les identités fluctuent entre le Québec et la Syrie.
Elle explique de manière émouvante comment sa famille a dû fuir le régime de Hafez Al-Assad dans les années 70 et comment elle se réapproprie aujourd'hui ses identités ancrées en elle.
Pour lire son témoignage en français: https://syrianeyes.world/2025/12/08/syrine-daigneault/
"I was born out of a tragedy.
When Hafez al-Assad came to power in a coup in 1970, nationalization followed, and my grandfather lost his textile factory. He was completely devastated, and the humiliation was compounded when he was asked to return to show how the machines worked. Shortly afterward, he decided to leave Syria with his wife, Hilale, and their four children. They eventually arrived in Montreal, where my mother met my Québécois father.
I spent my childhood hiding my difference. My mother danced baladi in the living room, but I did not want my friends to hear or see it. I did not want to be different, I did not want to speak Arabic. Today, when I listen to Arabic music, I do not understand the lyrics, and it makes me sad not to understand my mother’s language. I am now trying to reconnect with my roots by taking Arabic language and culture classes. I want this to become part of my artistic practice, to nourish my thinking for my work, my paintings.
Do I have the right to consider myself Syrian? I sometimes ask myself that question. In any case, there is something deep within me that is Syrian. The food, the way of behaving and speaking. A way of being in the world."
★★★★★
Portrait of Syrine Daigneault by Youssef Shoufan | Montréal | 2025-12-08
